Congress unlikely to make 2002 riots election issue in Gujarat

NEW DELHI: The Congress may not make the 2002 riots in Gujarat a poll issue in the assembly elections due in the state later this year, a party spokesperson has said, signalling a strategic shift.

The statement comes a day after a Supreme Court-appointed team failed to find any evidence against chief minister Narendra Modi for his alleged role in the Gulberg Society carnage case.

"It is not necessary that the 2002 riots will be an issue," Rashid Alvi told newspersons on Wednesday, "Whatever happened in 2002 was very shameful.

We do not want to politicise such incidents." The party, naturally, did not absolve Modi of his failure to fulfil his duty as chief minister to protect the victims and also to bring the perpetrators of the crime to justice.

Congress had till now painted Modi as the 'chief orchestrator' of the communal clashes that followed the Godhra massacre. In the 2007 polls, Congress president Sonia Gandhi had referred to Modi as 'maut ka saudagar' (merchant of death) to highlight his alleged role in the riots.

The change of tack signals the party's realisation that its attack on Modi polarised the Gujarat electorate in Modi's favour. Each time Congress raised the issue of riots, Modi successfully turned it to his advantage. Congress ended up scoring a self-goal, as the chief minister renewed his mandate.

However, the party's plan to pick neutral issues to counter Modi would pose its own challenges as the chief minister is routinely lauded by India Inc and others for his 'administrative skills' and 'track record' of development in the state. Besides, Congress lacks credible leaders in the state to counter the entrenched chief minister.

The SIT finding may not have left Congress with too many choices though. The SC-appointed SIT filed a final closure report on the Gulberg Society carnage case.

"According to SIT, no offence has been established against any of the 58 persons listed in Zakia Jafri's complaint," metropolitan magistrate MS Bhatt said in his order on a batch of petitions in which Zakia, widow of former Congress MP Ehsan Jafri, who was among the 69 persons killed, had named Modi for alleged criminal conspiracy.